The Things I'd Do For You
by sonamyfanfiction
Summary: Now that the Sonic Team have trained Amy up to her full battle potential, Amy is feeling the need to be a little more independent. She and Sonic end up having an argument about how Sonic is still being so overprotective, it's like he doesn't believe in her. Later, Eggman blackmails the new Amy into joining his side. How will she escape AND save her friends? Find out!
1. Training in Session

**Hi all! I HAVE DECIDED TO GIVE CHAPTERS A GO! WILL BE UPDATED EVERY FEW DAYS!  
>This story isn't quite a sequel to my last Fanfic 'Too Close (To Love You)', however, I've decided to take a few elements from it and continue on with them. There may be an element or two from my other stories in there also! For example: Eggman now holds all seven chaos emeralds, or an Amy transformation (What's It Going to Take?). Hopefully you'll all understand and enjoy my newest Fanfic! Read &amp; Review and check out my others!<br>Open to suggestions for new stories! Send me a message! x**

Another day passes by on the planet of Mobius and a full moon rises in the sky. It's been a long day for the gang. After the disappearance of Eggman for what has felt like forever, they have decided to improve on their battle and intelligence skills. Which really just turned into a lot of training for mainly Amy by Knuckles, Sonic, Shadow and Rouge and every now and then Tails would give Cream and Cosmo a few basic tips.  
>Amy being a little older than the other two, the gang knew what she could be capable of in the near future. Rouge suggested it was time to take things up a notch, so after a lot of persuading on her behalf, the gang had spent the last few months recapping everything they had ever learnt and teaching it to Amy. She picked up everything very fast, except for when it came to battling her blue hero which took a little more time to get used to and execute.<p>

'What a day.' Amy sighed as she collapsed on her couch.

'You're not wrong. I'm busted.' Cosmo added as she sprawled out on the lush, carpeted floor.

'I'm feeling ok, Tails took it pretty easy on me today. I'll make some tea for us.' Cream giggled and head for the kitchen. Tails offered to fly them home, but of course Amy insisted they were fine to walk, which she was regretting now.

'I think you might give Rouge a run for her money soon, Amy!' Cosmo complimented her. Rouge and Knuckles made their way back to Angel Island after their long day of training at Sonic and Tails' home, also quite worn out after battling Amy for the day.

'You can count on it. It's bound to happen one day!' Amy said proudly before continuing. 'How about you? How did you and Tails go today?'

'Not too bad. When he wasn't working on Cream, he took me down a few times but I quickly returned the favour.' Cosmo giggled and Amy laughed.

'Here we go! Nice, hot tea. I think we deserve it.' Cream exhaled heavily as she placed the tray down on the living room's coffee table. The three took a cup each and began sipping on the heavenly brew before letting out a sigh.

'You girls are welcome to crash here tonight if you want? It's pretty late already.' Amy offered.

'Thanks Amy but I think we'll be ok. We did tell Vanilla we'd be home, after all.' Cosmo replied.

'Yeah, I don't want Mama to be worried about us.' Cream added.

'That's alright, well at least finish your tea first!' Amy insisted, we the other two agreed to.

After they all finished their second cups of tea, Amy showed the girls out the door at around 9:30pm which felt like midnight. She waved the girls goodbye before shutting the door, leaning against it and sliding down to the floor into a pile of pink. She lay there for a minute more before finding the energy to stand up and prepare herself for bed.  
>She dragged herself into her bathroom so she could have a hot shower and relieve her body from all the aches and pains. As she washed her hair and scrubbed her fur with her favourite rose and cherry scented washes and scrubs, she got to thinking about the points of the day where she was forced to battle her hero, Sonic. She had no problem beating the crap out of Knuckles, Shadow and Rouge, sometimes even Tails when she got the chance, but when it came to Sonic it just didn't feel right. Intentionally hurting the one she loved. Of course, Sonic simply saw it as training and was able to take her down every time because she wouldn't even try, although he never hurt her.<br>She shook these thoughts from her head and tried to remind herself it was only training, it wasn't real. Which lead her to think about all the brief seconds today when she would be in his arms, his strong, masculine arms. Or when he'd be pinning her to the ground in defeat, his strong torso only inches away from her petite figure. It gave her butterflies just thinking about it, even though she knew it wasn't supposed to.  
>'Oh, how I wish you felt the same you stubborn hedgehog…'<p>

'What a day, eh?' Knuckles said as he collapsed on a couch in Sonic and Tails' living room.

'The things I'd give to be able to disagree with you.' Rouge admitted as she lay down on the floor.

'Cream and Cosmo are going to make great little brains to the team one day.' Tails said as he brought over tea for everyone.

'I hate to admit it, but Rose is giving us a run for our money as the days go on.' Shadow admitted as he leant against a door frame.

'Speak for yourself?' Sonic chuckled.

'Oh come on, Sonic! We all know she isn't going full out on you.' Knuckles exclaimed.

'Pfft, or maybe I can just take her? Unlike you babies.'

'Oh please. Amy wouldn't hurt you if her life depended on it and you know it, don't get cocky.' Rouge smirked.

'Well as much as I hate to admit it, Faker isn't exactly going easy on her and she is taking it. She isn't exactly not hurting him?' Shadow huffed.

'I could go tougher on her if I wanted.' Sonic stated, even though he wouldn't dare admit he hated how hard he had to go on her as it was.

'I think Amy could match you if she wanted to.' Tails piped up and Sonic shrugged.

'Well then how about you just do that, Big Blue?'

'What?!' The boys exclaimed at Rouge's suggestion.

'I think the time will come within the next few days that she will give in and kick his ass, just to put it bluntly. Step it up a notch and let's see what happens?' Rouge shrugged with a seductive smile. 'Anyways, I'm off. Prepare yourselves for tomorrow, I think it's going to be a very good day.' Rouge winked before she walked out onto the balcony, spread her wings and gracefully flew into the air and headed towards Angel Island.

'Why can't she just use the door?' Tails questioned as the boys watched her leave.

'She's right though.' Shadow said.

'About what?' Knuckles questioned in disbelief.

'Maybe we need to step things up?' Shadow answered shooting a look towards a certain blue hedgehog, allowing everyone to follow his gaze.

'What? I'm game. She could use a challenge I suppose.' Sonic shrugged before giving a thumbs up and headed to his room before anyone saw through him.

Shadow, Knuckles and Tails exchanged looks after Sonic disappeared, curious to know what tomorrow would bring. They said their goodbyes before Tails showed them out and made his own way to bed…

Sonic began to smirk to himself at the thought of what tomorrow would bring. _Amy isn't going to know what hit her. They think I'm going easy on her, well, I'll show them. Ames will just have to step things up! A lot! A little… maybe. Oh, who am I kidding? How am I going to force myself to battle Amy as if she is a real enemy? I can't hurt her. _Sonic's smile began to fade away. _I can't back out, the others will know. I need to find a way of getting out of this. I can't do this to her, it's her. God, Ames, what are we going to do?_


	2. The Battles

The next day, Rouge flew in just as Amy, Cream and Cosmo arrived. They gathered outside where they found they boys gathered around Tails.

'What's going on over here then?' Rouge asked as she sauntered over to the boys, the other girls on her heels.

'A draw.' Shadow stated bluntly.

'What for, Mr. Shadow?' Cream asked politely.

'For today's training sessions… or _battles_.'

'WHAT?!'

'I think I can explain it a little better.' Tails stepped in. 'We've been training for a while now, so we thought it might be time to see what has been retained, mainly for Amy considering she's done the most training.'

'And who exactly will I be battling?' Amy asked with a hint of sass in her voice which made Rouge smirk.

'Who do you think?' Knuckles chuckled.

'Oh! Cool, this should be fun.' Amy replied as she narrowed her eyes at her red brotherly figure.

'Alright, Cream and Cosmo are the judges and Amy will battle the rest of us. Let's start with a warm up?' Tails suggested.

'Let's get started!' Sonic exclaimed as everyone spread out.

Cream and Cosmo took a seat on a lush patch of green grass by a few blooming bushes out the front of the house, giving them a perfect view of the battling arena. Sonic, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Tails and Knuckles all did their own warm ups before preparing for the first round. Amy vs. Tails.

'You ready, Amy?'

'Born ready, Tails!'

Everyone smirked, laughed and giggled at the two friends preparing themselves to take each other down. Tails was about to make the first move, until Amy beat him to it. She caught him off guard by running towards him, using his shoulders as leverage to handspring over him, landing gracefully before crouching down to trip him over, his face falling into the dirt. Amy stood up and dusted herself off before placing her hands on her hips and looking down at her fox friend.

'Is that all you've got?' She giggled.

'I'm just getting started.' Tails mumbled into the ground, just loud enough for everyone to hear before he quickly sprung up and tripped Amy over and pinned her to the ground.

Knuckles burst into a fit of laughter at Tails deceptive tactic, flattering the two-tailed kitsune causing him to be caught off guard. Amy used this to her advantage by grabbing his forearms and lifting him off her she stood up, grabbed his twin tails and discus threw him into a nearby tree. The tree wasn't intentional but it added a nice touch. Everyone let out a loud gasp as Tails hit the tree and slid down to the ground. He remained face down whilst struggling to even sit up.

'Tapping out now, Pal?' Sonic questioned cautiously. Tails lifted his head up just enough to nod.

'Round one goes to Amy!' Cream exclaimed and everyone began to clap before Cosmo and Knuckles went and picked up Tails.

'Nice work, Rose.' Shadow nodded as Amy walked past him back to her starting position.

Next up to the plate, Rouge. She and Amy had become close friends and didn't exactly want to hurt each other, but were also eager to prove themselves the better fighter, or better anything for that matter. Rouge was a G.U.N agent, so a magnificent spy and fighter. Able to read people like a book at the best of times. So Amy had prepared herself for her opponent's every possible move…

'Alright Pinky, I'll make this short and sweet.' Rouge teased.

'Don't be so sure.' Amy winked at her in the attempt to make her question her ability, which appeared to work for a hair of a second.

The girls remained in a prepared stance for a few seconds longer until Rouge had figured out Amy's tactic, she wasn't going to make the first move. So it was time for the bat to mix things up a little. She relieved her stance and stood up tall and elegant as she always does, causing Amy to do the same. Rouge checked out her nails before she began to casually circle Amy, to which Amy mirrored.

'What are they doing?' Tails whispered.

'Being girls.' Knuckles and Sonic answered in sync.

Rouge finally decided she had had enough and was almost sure her opponent was off guard. She winked towards the rest of the gang before flying full force towards Amy, pinning her to the ground. They rolled around a few times before Amy was on top, giving her two seconds to summon her hammer. She lined Rouge up for a shot a followed through. Unfortunately, only grazing the ivory bat after she had moved enough to escape any fatal injury. The girls returned to their beginning positions and panted heavily.

'Give up yet, Hun?' Rouge panted.

'Over my dead body!' Amy exclaimed before running towards her friend for one last attempt at defeat.

Rouge smirked at this, stood up straight and basically spear tackled Amy to the ground as she ran full force towards her. The others gasped at the sound the girls made as they hit the ground. Rouge pinned her to the ground once before rolling her over one more time, using her hands to pin down her wrists and a foot to pin down her stomach.

'Now?!' Rouge chucked darkly.

'Argh! Fine!' Amy groaned after having the wind knocked out of her.

Rouge released her and walked away proudly before taking a seat, allowing the boys to stare at her in amazement. Rouge being Rouge, she lapped it all up and couldn't help but laugh. They all watched on as Amy staggered to her feet and dusted herself off as Cosmo handed her a glass of water. She gulped it down and let out a huge gasp of air when she finished.

'Who's next?' She panted, resting her hands on her knees.

'How about we take a break? I think we deserve it.' Tails suggested nervously and everyone agreed after finally persuading Amy.

After a lunch break, Knuckles stepped up to his beginning position, ready to take on the small, pink hedgehog. As much as he hated to admit it, Rouge had worn her out so he figured this wouldn't be too hard. Maybe he should mess around with a little bit to begin with?

'Ready, kiddo?'

'Let's go!'

Knuckles charged full blast towards Amy, to which this time she didn't flinch. She simply summoned her hammer, lined him up and took him out in a matter of seconds. Everyone gasped as Knuckles came back down and smacked the ground. He quickly got to his feet, now forgetting the idea of games, and crash tackled her tiny body to the ground. She punched him in the face a few times before finally being released, allowing her to trip him up and pin him down the same way Rouge did to her. Except this time, she used her hammer as a threat.

'Tap out?' Amy giggled.

'Yes! Dear God, don't hit me with that thing again!' Knuckles cried like an infant before Amy let him go.

The girls cheered for Amy while the boys bowed their heads in shame for the red echidna. He limped back to the others before collapsing face down on the ground.

'Taken out by a girl, wow.' Shadow mocked.

'Shut up, Shadow.' Knuckles whined, clearly not in the mood for an argument.

Amy was worn out at this point, really not feeling like taking on two more opponents. However, she took another drink of water, dusted herself off and returned to her starting position. Next up, Shadow. The Ultimate Life Form and also a G.U.N agent. She couldn't deny that this would be a challenge, Shadow didn't like to lose so there was no way he would take it easy on her.

'Get ready, Rose.' Shadow prepared her.

Without another word, Amy leapt towards her opponent, having already summoned her hammer and drove it towards his chest. He swiftly dodged her attack by dipping down and tripping her feet, sending her and her hammer tumbling down a ditch. Shadow smirked, thinking she was down and out then turned around to walk back towards the others.  
>She groaned as she stood up and reached for her hammer before charging towards her cocky opponent. This time, catching him off guard, swiftly whacked him in the back which sent him flying into a pile of nearby bushes. She fell to her knees in a desperate attempt to regain air and watched Shadow rise from the blooming bushes with a very angry look plastered over his muzzle.<p>

'She's in trouble now.' Tails muttered.

'Good.' Knuckles answered sourly, still upset at his defeat.

Amy couldn't help but let out a chuckle as Shadow stood up straight and stared at her. He gave her a look as if to say _you're going to pay for that_. Her smile sudden faltered to a rather nervous expression before Shadow charged towards her, and tackled her to the ground. She put up a fair fight, throwing in a few punches, maybe a swift kick or two but it wasn't enough. He eventually picked her up and threw her into a nearby tree. Everyone's mouths were gapping as they watched her slide to the ground, they then turned to look at a panting Shadow.

'I'm out.' Amy sighed.

'For God's sake, Shadow! She isn't a real enemy!' Rouge exclaimed.

'He just can't handle being taken out by a chick.' Sonic giggled which earned him an evil glare for his dark double.

Amy stumbled to her feet just before Shadow got to her side, taking her arm and helping her walk to the others. He complimented her and tried to apologise, in his own way, which wasn't exactly satisfying but Amy took it anyway. She took a minute break to dust herself off and get another drink of water, she deserved it. After four battles, she had won twice and lost twice, which was no surprise considering she didn't stand a great chance against the two G.U.N agents. Now it was time to face off her last opponent, the one she'd been dreading since that morning. Her hero, Sonic the Hedgehog...


	3. Sonic vs Amy

It was now almost sunset by the time the two stepped up to their beginning positions. Amy stared at the blue hedgehog before her, thinking about their previous training sessions when she would allow him to take her down or when she just knew he was taking it easy on her. She couldn't think like that today though, today was for real. Today was a test. If she could take on Sonic, she could do it all.  
>But then it hit her… was he really going to try and hurt her? Would he take her on as if she was an enemy? It was different when it was Knuckles, Shadow or Rouge. Sometimes he could even get away with battling Tails, but not her. It just wasn't right.<p>

_How am I going to stop this? They'll know if I go easy on her but I can't hurt her! Someone needs to get her angry. _Sonic screamed in his own head.

_Please don't make us do this, please let something happen. _Amy thought to herself.

'Are you guys going to start sometime this week or?' Knuckles coaxed impatiently which made the two hedgehogs jump. This seemed to make Amy angry enough to give in…

She swallowed her pride and took in a deep breath before running towards him, causing him to jump at her sudden change of heart. Amy came to a halt when he was no longer in her line of view. He had dashed to the side, now almost behind her. She turned around, realizing this was going to be hard and make her look foolish. She shook it off, charged towards him before once again screeching to a halt. This continued one another four or five times until everyone, including Amy grew tired of his game.

'Don't make me get my hammer.' Amy said, trying to pass it off as a joke.

'That won't be necessary, Ames.' Sonic said before winking at her, catching her completely off guard.

As Amy relaxed her stance, trying to figure out what his last comment meant, Sonic charged towards her and grabbed her around the waist, whirling her around and dipping her down to scare her, it looked like they were dancing if anything. As a reflex, she struggled to release herself from his grasp. Until she realized it was Sonic whose grasp she was in, then she stopped.

'What are you doing?' Amy exclaimed, arching an eyebrow as she tried to make her attempt at fighting him look even remotely real.

'You don't really want to do this, Amy. Let's just give it up now?' Sonic whispered to her so the others wouldn't hear. Amy's eyes widened, highly offended by his comment.

'Is that so? How about _you _surrender to me then, tough guy?' She said as she pushed him away and summoned her hammer.

'Not likely. If you want to do it this way though then let's go!' Sonic exclaimed with a fake smile.

The pair began to battle, trying to convince the others and more importantly themselves, that they were really duking it out. Amy knocked Sonic around a little and he took it, right up until her had her pinned to the ground and hung over her face.

'Come on, Ames. Give it up, please don't do this to yourself. You really shouldn't be getting into this kind of stuff.' Sonic admitted with a lop-sided smile.

Amy's muscles relaxed and her eyes widened in surprise. She stayed silent and allowed Sonic to watch over her for a few seconds more, their faces only inches apart. The rest of the gang had heard nothing of their conversation so were all in suspense waiting for the next move. Amy threw Sonic off her, stood up and took a few steps away from him before mumbling something under her breath.

'What was that?' Sonic asked has he stood up and walked behind her.

'How dare you!' Amy exclaimed as she whirled around to face a stunned, blue hedgehog.

'What? What did I say?'

'You don't think I can take care of myself, do you? You think I'm still little Miss Amy Rose that's always the Damsel in Distress that has to be saved by the one and only hero of Mobius, Sonic the Hedgehog. Well you know what? You're not the only one who can take care of yourself and others, Sonic! Maybe you need to take a step back and see that!' Amy exclaimed, refusing to let another tear well up in her eye. She hated yelling at him, or getting mad at him to begin with.

'Wait, what's going on?' Knuckles asked as the others walked towards them.

'BACK OFF!' Amy screeched as she whirled around to face him, causing them all to walk a few steps backwards.

'Amy? What's wrong with you?' Sonic questioned as he took a step towards her.

'What's wrong with me? Are you serious?! I've been working my ass off for months now and you still don't trust me!'

'I do trust you, it's just-'

'Nothing, Sonic! All of you! You need to give me a chance! I'm a big girl now, nearly 17 years old, for Chaos sake!' Amy screamed before she ran down the pathway over hill. She had really gained some speed over the past few months.

The gang stared on at where Amy ran and disappeared into the distance in wonder of what had just occurred. As soon as their shock had subsided, they all turned to face the blue hero who was still facing the horizon. He tried to speak, say something that might explain her actions but he couldn't. He didn't understand what he'd said that had set her off.

'Don't take it to heart, guys. She is exhausted. What she said was true, about working so hard these past few months. She is just stressed and worn out.' Cosmo said in the attempt to comfort them all.

'She's right, let's go inside and rest up. Amy is probably almost home by now, I'm sure that's where she went.' Tails said as he gestured for everyone to walk inside.

As it dawned on dark, the gang was inside re-fueling after a long and confusing day. Sonic stayed on the living room balcony where he stared out at the horizon, wondering what it was he said to set Amy off. He assumed she had run home, he hoped anyway. As the rest of the gang remained inside, talking and relaxing, almost dozing off to sleep, he got to thinking about everything she had screeched at him that afternoon.  
>She was right, she was a big girl now. Although, she had been for a long time. She'd looked after herself for as long as he could remember, and was nothing less than a sister of Cream and Cosmo. He just couldn't stand the thought of her being in trouble, hurt or scared. It was like he had some sort of tie to her that made him obliged to be there when he needed her.<br>He knew how she felt about him, sure he could have treated her better but he wasn't about to act upon how he really felt either? It would all get thrown out of proportion. Plus, no one knew how he really felt about their petite, pink friend. He knew she couldn't stay mad at him though, and he knew that she secretly loved it when she was in his arms after having saved her from the claws of Eggman's latest machine.

'God dammit, Amy. What do you want me to do?' Sonic said out loud to himself.

'You don't get it, do you?' A voice said from behind him. Sonic whirled around to see Rouge walking towards him.

'Get what? I didn't do anything wrong?'

'Do you believe in her abilities, Sonic?' She questioned him as she leaned on the railing next to him.

'Yeah but…' He trailed off and Rouge arched and eyebrow as if to coax him to continue.

'I know she can take care of herself but, I don't want her to feel she has to.' Sonic admitted, bowing his head as though he was embarrassed. Rouge smiled at this, knowing it was a subtle sign of affection.

'Let her cool off, give her a chance to prove herself. When she does, that's when you can be there for her, like you always have. She knows you'll never let her down. The same way you know her feelings for you will never falter.' Rouge smiled.

'You going all mushy on me, Rouge?' Sonic chuckled, it was rare that this duo was alone. When they were, they got on very well.

'Don't push your luck, Big Blue, I could beat the crap out of you and you know it.' Rouge said as she stuck her nose in the air, to which huffed.

'Tomorrow we will find out. You'll check on Ames for me before you go home tonight?' Sonic asked.

'Of course.'

After Amy had run off that evening, she didn't go straight home. She just ran and ran until she could barely walk another step. When the moon rose she collapsed into a heap on a lush patch of grass and leaned against a tree that looked over a small pond, probably an abandoned Chao colony. She would have been there for at least a couple of hours, wrapped up in guilt about her outburst at Sonic and everything she said to him and the others. What was she thinking? She finally allowed herself to cry until she told herself enough was enough. It was then that she realized that maybe all this training had more than just a physical effect on her, it was making in her more emotionally stable too. Just like the others.  
>This training wasn't the only thing that had changed about her, though. She didn't wear her every day, girly red dress anymore, she had a new and improved version. Still red but open at back and a little more fitted, it even showed off a little cleavage. Which of course without question, was Rouge's doing. Her quills are a little past her shoulders now so she is able to tie them up now when she wants.<br>The biggest change of all, however? The way she was around her blue hero. Instead of death grips as a greeting, she said hello like any normal person. There was an occasional hug but they certainly weren't like the ones she used to give. Inside, she was the same love-sick Amy Rose she'd always been. On the outside, she had matured into and blossoming and beautiful young woman.

'I'm so sorry, Sonic…' Amy mumbled to herself as she stood up and dusted herself off. 'I'll go back there early tomorrow, before anyone else gets there, and I'll apologise to him.'

She nodded to herself before she began to walk away from the tree and head towards her cottage home. She walked slowly down the path to her home, exhausted after such a long day. It would have been at least 9pm around about now, not that she cared. She continued to drag her feet along the ground until her little pink house was now in her sight.

'Ouch! What was… that?' Amy slurred as she felt a sharp pain stab her in the bottom.

She turned her head around, her vision becoming blurred, to find a small needle poking out of her dress. She pulled it out and tried to examine it. She couldn't be sure but she could swear it had a picture of a man on the end of the needle. Was it a… tranquilizer? Before she knew it, she lost all sight, all hearing and collapsed to the ground…


	4. Oh No

Amy slowly opened her eyes to bright lights shining down on her. Where was she? She slowly sat up and realized she was on what seemed a hospital bed, but she certainly wasn't in a hospital. It was more like a lab.

'It's about time you woke up.' A voice echoed from behind her. She whirled around to come face to face with their arch enemy.

'Eggman?! What are you doing here? What am I doing here?! What's going on?' Amy screeched as she was about to jump into action but his two robot sidekicks came in and held her down, threatening to tranquilize her again.

'You're in my newest base. I haven't brought you here to hurt you so quit you're whining!' He exclaimed and Amy growled.

'Then what do you want?' Amy demanded.

'I know that in my absence your team has trained you to a point where you can even battle your own members. I've been watching from a distance and I'm very impressed with your progress. I've decided that I want you on my side.' Eggman stated.

'I beg your pardon?' Amy spat out, sure she heard him wrong.

'You heard me. You'll join my side, I know it.'

'Pfft, over my dead body! There is no way I would betray my friends, especially for-'

Amy cut herself off when Eggman pressed a button that opened two large metal doors to the side of his lab. When the smoke disappeared, out came a medium-sized machine that stopped right in front of the doors it had emerged from.

'Say hello to my newest creation. My absence has been well worth it, my dear.' Eggman stated proudly.

'Is that so? Well, what does it do then?' Amy huffed, trying to hide her nerves.

'Well, let's just say you'll find out if you refuse to join my team.' Eggman chuckled as he commanded the machine to reveal a small and secluded compartment. The lid to it lifted to reveal seven valuables that reminded Amy of a mistake they had made not so long ago.

'The Chaos Emeralds!' She exclaimed, realizing they were powering Eggman's new beast.

'Nothing gets past you, now does it? Thanks to you and your stupid friends, I now have all seven of these beauties. Now this is how it's going to go, you are going to become my alliance willingly and all is dandy otherwise-'

'Why me? Why not Tails or Knuckles?' Amy cut him off.

'I have reasons for them all, Miss Rose. You are now a more sophisticated fighter now, intelligent and have a weakness that works to my advantage.' Eggman chuckled darkly, making Amy gasp.

'W-What weakness?' She stuttered.

'That pesky blue hedgehog. You join forces with me _willingly _and everyone goes unharmed. If not, I use this machine to control you to act out every last command of mine. I also use it to destroy every last person and thing you hold most dear.' Eggman stated as he narrowed his eyes and stared deep into Amy's soul.

'You wouldn't. You can't?' She stuttered, trying harder than ever not to allow her voice to break.

'I have all seven chaos emeralds. I can and I will.'

As Eggman's dark words sank deeper and deeper into Amy's brain, her heart began to race, her face began to sweat and skin beneath her lush pink fur grew ice cold. She feared for her friends more than her own life right now. She had to make a decision fast before Eggman made it for her. Not that there was much of a decision to make…

'Alright. I'll do it. On one condition.' Amy stated and Eggman arched an eyebrow.

'No one is to be hurt. That machine is not to be used, because I agreed willingly, just like you said.'

'Too easy!' Eggman exclaimed.

'You have a deal.' Amy said as she bowed her head and forced back the tears.

'Excellent, my dear! You'll be very happy here I can assure you. Plus, once I have created the Eggman Empire, you may just be able to become my beautiful _Empress_.' Eggman said before going into a fit of hysterical laughter.

Amy fell to her knees and began to pant heavily before covering her face with her hands and bursting into tears. For all she knew she would be forced to live out the rest of her life with Eggman in order to save the ones she loved. What in the name of Mobius had she just done?

It would've been around 10:30pm when Rouge was done flying around and made her way to Amy's cottage home to check on her. There were no lights on, no sound, it was as though she had never returned home. She flew down to the front doorstep and knocked gently on the front door.

'Amy? It's Rouge. Are you there?'

'…'

'Hun, I know you're upset but it can be fixed. Just open up.'

'…'

'Argh, whatever. See you tomorrow, kiddo.'

Rouge spread her wings again and flew off into the night sky, slightly pissed off having no response from her pink friend. Surprisingly enough, being a spy and all, it never occurred to her to actually check one of Amy's habits… the door handle.  
>Without fail, every time Amy left her house she locked the doors and windows. As soon as she came home, she would unlock it and leave it that way until the next time she left. Had Rouge tried to turn the door knob, it would still be locked… <em>Amy had never come home.<em>


	5. Habits and Messages

The next morning, at the usual time of somewhere around 9am, everyone began turning up to Sonic and Tails' humble abode for more training. It was a beautiful day for it, the sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze in the air. Tails was busy making some adjustments on the Tornado while Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles and Rouge were doing some casual battle techniques together.

'Did you check on her last night?' Sonic whispered as he walked over to Rouge.

'I tried but she wouldn't even talk let alone answer the door. To be honest, I'll be surprised if she shows up today.' Rouge replied, still annoyed.

'Hey everyone!' Cosmo exclaimed as her and Cream walked towards the gang having just arrived.

'Hey girls, how's it goin'? Ready for today?' Tails said as he slid out from under the ship and walked towards the gang.

'Sure!' Cream giggled and Cheese made his usual noises.

'Uh, is Amy here yet?' Cosmo questioned as she looked around for her pink friend.

'Nope. Haven't heard from her since her outburst yesterday, she'll turn up eventually.' Knuckles said brushing her off. Suddenly Sonic remembered something…

'Rouge, when you went to check on her, was the door locked?' Sonic asked.

'You went to check on her?' Shadow grunted.

'Sonic asked me to and I don't know, why?' Rouge replied.

'Why did you ask Rouge to check on her?' Tails asked.

'That doesn't matter!' Sonic exclaimed before directing his attention back to the ivory bat. 'Amy always locks her doors and such when she leaves home. When she gets home she unlocks it all until she leaves again. If I go over there and it's still locked then she never came home last night!' Sonic snapped in a panic.

'How the hell do you know all of this?' Knuckles questioned.

'She told me once and for some reason it stuck. I have to go!'

With that, Sonic sped off into the distance towards the pink hedgehog's home. The rest of the gang watched the trail of blue disappear behind him as he left, wondering why he suddenly became so nervous. Was he being overprotective again? Was it something else?

'Well, that was strange?' Cream said quietly.

In a matter of seconds, the blue hero had arrived at Amy's front door step. He twisted the handle to discover it was locked. He felt a pang of nerves rise up from his stomach to his chest as he began to sweat and breathe heavily in worry.

'Amy? Amy, are you there?' He yelled out.

…

'Amy! Open up! It's me, Sonic! I'm sorry, ok? Just open up!'

…

'Screw it.' He said to himself before bashing down Amy's from door. She'd probably be pretty pissed about that when she saw it but it kind of wasn't the point right now. He looked around her living room, kitchen, bathroom, before making his way upstairs to her bedroom. Her room was tidy, organized and lovely, just like her. He noticed one of her new outfits lying on her bed and make up on her dresser. He'd be lying if he said she didn't think she was beautiful. Actually, even that was a lie. Sonic secretly thought that she put beauty to shame, but like hell he was going to admit that to anyone.  
>He then stumbled across a photo on her window sill, an old photo of him and her. A photo from when they were back on Chris' planet, on the cruise ship after Sonic was finally able to relax. Amy was wearing her short quills out and her girly, red dress and giving him one of her signature death grip hugs. He couldn't help but laugh as he traced the photo with his fingertips.<br>There was no sign of Amy Rose. Her house was so dark and gloomy without her in it. His anxiety continued to grow as the seconds went on. Where was she? Where did she go last night? What happened after she left? He has to find her… _now._

While Sonic ran around Amy's house multiple times again in order to be sure, the gang remained back with Tails at their home. They tried to do some training but it just wasn't the same without Sonic and Amy, especially since they couldn't even guarantee where Amy was right now.

'Do you think Amy is ok?' Cream said, breaking the silence between them all.

'I'm sure she's fine Cream. Besides, even if she's not, Sonic won't let her be unsafe for long.' Cosmo reassured her with a comforting smile.

The gang continued to sit in silence out the front of the house until a familiar, childish giggle was heard in the distance. Rouge knew it better than anyone, having blackmailed the moron more times than ever. Everyone looked around to see where the flying pest was, until he jumped out from behind a tree and startled Cream and Cosmo.

'Haha! Gotcha!' Bocoon exclaimed as his shoulder bag swung around.

'Great, what does he want?' Shadow huffed, leaning against a tree trunk and rolling his eyes.

'I have a name y'know! I'm only here to deliver a message, anyways!' The small creature exclaimed as he pulled out a small TV from his shoulder bag.

Everyone jumped and screeched when they saw the contraption and ducked for cover. If experience had taught them anything, it was not to trust Bocoon bringing an Eggman Message because nine out of ten times it would blow someone or something up.

'That wasn't a very pleasant welcome, if you don't mind me sayin' so! Now here, watch!' Bocoon said as he pressed the power button on the TV.

Eggman's hideous, sweaty face came up on the screen and began to speak…

_Greetings, pests! Long time, no see! How have you all been? Not that I care. I'm sure you're all dying to know where I've been so I decided to send you this sweet little orientation to explain my absence. _The screen suddenly changed from Eggman to a recording of his new beast before he began talking again.  
><em>Thanks to your incompetency, I now possess all seven chaos emeralds which make up the energy to power my newest creation! The Chaos-Creation 6000!<em> _As you can guess, it has a great deal of potential, so I suggest you don't try and cross it!_

The screen then changed to something awful… it was Amy. Only now she also fashioned not only her red dress, but a large, red, fur cape and a small jeweled tiara. She was crying, not hysterically but tears were sliding down her cheeks uncontrollably. She was watching over production and improvements by Eggman's robots on the new metallic beast.

'AMY!' Cream and Cosmo exclaimed before Cream began to cry.

'How could she do this to us?!' Knuckles added.

_Also, it seems as though Miss Rose has found a new home with myself and my team. She is a strong fighter, thank you for training her for me! When the Eggman Empire is complete, I will be the ultimate Emperor and will now have a beautiful, young Empress to rule alongside me. OH HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!  
><em>Before the screen switched off, Amy looked straight into the camera, as if she finally noticed it was there. She began to cry more, it was as if she knew the gang could see this and she was ashamed. She mouthed the words 'I'm sorry' before turning around and storming through a set of double doors.

'Whelp, that's all for today! B-Bye!' Bocoon exclaimed as he handed Knuckles the TV and flew into the air with the same childish giggle.

*KA-BOOM!*

The small message contraption made a small explosion in Knuckles' face, leaving gas and smoke residue all over his muzzle. The gang stepped back a pace as they watched the steam shoot out of his ears.

'YOU LITTLE SHIT! GET BACK HERE!' Knuckles exclaimed as he thrust his fist in the air.

'Calm down, Knuckie…' Rouge coaxed with undeniable nerves…


	6. Trapped or Betrayal?

Bocoon returned to the Eggbase to find Eggman and Amy looking over all of his smaller robots working on the new machine. He flew over to them to inform them of the good news, that they were freaking out and the message exploded. Amy tried to keep her chin up and ignore their laughter and snide comments. When Bocoon flew away, Eggman noticed Amy's silence.

'What is the matter, my Empress?'

'Don't call me that.' She replied, turning even more away from him if that was possible.

'Oh, come now.' He said as he took a step closer.

'You can't beat him!' She exclaimed without thinking, causing Eggman to get right up in her face.

'I can promise you now, Amy Rose, I can and I will. Sonic the Hedgehog will be the death of you.' He whispered before backing off and turning to face production again.

'Besides, you were never going win that pest over anyway.' Eggman snickered, causing Amy to stare at him.

'You're better off here, my dear.' He said again before cackling.

'You're a pig and a monster and such a-'

'What, Miss Rose?' Eggman cut her off.

She couldn't find the words, there were too many to choose from. She ran out the double doors before bursting into tears. She just wanted to go home to her friends, to Sonic…_  
><em>__

Sonic returned to gang in a state of panic. He began spluttering out words that no one could string together to make any sense, Tails tried to calm him down, Cream gave him a glass of water but it was Shadow's tactic that really worked.

'Stop your shit and tell us what happened!' He yelled after he punched Sonic in the face. Usually Sonic would retaliate and hit him back but this was something unreal. Sonic shook off the effect, took a breath and finally strung a sentence together.

'Amy! She's not at home, she's gone!'

'We know.' Tails said as he bowed his head.

'What do you mean you know?!'

'Bocoon just left. He brought a message from Eggman which-'

'which exploded in my face!' Knuckles cut Rouge off to which she rolled her eyes.

'WHAT IS GOING ON?!' Sonic exclaimed causing everyone to jump.

'Eggman has her, Sonic.' Cosmo spoke up.

'What? Well we have to go and save her!' Sonic said before he was about to speed off. Cosmo grabbed his arm and made him face her.

'The message from Bocoon wasn't that he has kidnapped her. She is on his side now. There were videos of her over seeing production on his new weapon.'

'Which is powered by all the chaos emeralds.' Tails added.

'Yes. Eggman is building up the Empire once more and he said that… that…'She trailed off.

'That Amy will run it alongside him as his Empress.' Shadow finished for her.

Sonic took a step back, as if the shock has physically pushed him backwards, almost making him fall on his behind. The stabbing pain of nerves, panic and worry were rising up in his chest once again, only this time it was a million times worse. He's really messed up this time. Sonic let these words seep into his head, 'his Empress'? Not now, not ever, would he let anyone take Amy away, especially Egghead. Not now, not ever, would he let someone take her away from him. Not that he was about to admit to anyone…

'It's not true.' Rouge broke the silence, her back facing the gang and looking at the horizon.

'What do you mean, Miss Rouge?' Cream questioned, trying to stop the tears streaming down her face.

'Amy wouldn't do it willingly-'

'Did you not see the video?!' Knuckles cut her off.

'Let me finish, Knucklehead! Unless she was being blackmailed. You all know as well as I do that Amy loves and cares about us all too much to do that, especially to you Sonic.' She said as she turned to face the cobalt creature.

'Eggman has tricked her into joining him. She was crying in that video and she mouthed an apology to the camera. She isn't doing this for real. My guess is Egghead is using the power of the emeralds against her, threatening to hurt us or something if she doesn't go along with him.'

'But why would he want Amy?' Tails asked.

'Probably using the fact we trained her against us.' Knuckles sighed.

'It wouldn't be just that. He would be using a weakness against her as well.' Shadow added.

'Which is?' Cosmo questioned.

'Me.' Sonic said as he bowed his head, causing the gang to turn and look directly at him.

'My money is on the fact he threatened to hurt you guys but probably fatally injure or maybe even kill me. Even after she lost her cool at me she is saving me, because she cares and because she's proving her point.'

'Two birds…' Rouge said.

'Exactly.' Sonic nodded.

'Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get her!' Knuckles questioned.

'Are you crazy, Knuckles?' We need a plan!' Tails exclaimed.

'Here's a plan. Land ship away from base, find Amy, see what's happening, leave with her. Done? Great, let's go.' Shadow said and everyone nodded.

'But… Oh, fine.' Tails rolled his eyes and followed everyone into the garage.


	7. Plan In Action

It took no time at all before the X-Tornado was set and ready to go to Eggman's base. Cream and Cosmo insisted they came, which meant they rode in the ship with Tails. Of course, Sonic ran at the speed of sound, Knuckles and Shadow on the wings of the plane and Rouge flew alongside them.  
>Sonic and Tails kept in contact over the wrist communicators in order to work out where they would have to land. If they were spotted, who knows what powers that new machine might unleash? It was only now that it crossed Sonic's mind to call Blaze and Silver here to help, but of course, that would require at least one of the chaos emeralds.<p>

The gang continued to travel on until Tails had found the base on the Tornado's tracker. He brought the Tornado in for a landing and made sure it was well hidden before he and the girls got out. Everyone gathered together after they landed, where do they go from here?

'Maybe Miss Rouge and Mr. Shadow should go ahead and check it all out?' Cream suggested.

'Why us?' Shadow huffed.

'Uh, because you're spies, Mr. Shadow? You won't get seen as easily.' She replied, causing everyone's eyes to widen in slight surprise.

'That's a great idea, Cream!' Sonic exclaimed as he placed a hand on her shoulder, 'Looks like Tails taught you well.'

'Thanks, Sonic.'

'I knew that I was a spy…' Shadow said as Rouge dragged him away.

The gang stayed hidden while they waited for Rouge to contact them via their communicators, but nothing came. It would have been around fifteen minutes the pair were gone with no results and everyone began to worry.

'I thought they would've been back or at least contacted us by now?' Knuckles huffed as he paced.

'Chill out, Knux. Your girlfriend will still be alive when all this is over.' Sonic chuckled, causing Tails to bite his lip.

'Watch it, Hedgehog or I swear to Chaos I'll-'

'Guys!' Rouge shouted, cutting Knuckles off, as her and Shadow ran towards them all.

'What's happening?' Cosmo asked.

'Did you find her?' Cream added.

'We did, but we figured you guys would want to be there when she saw us.' Rouge answered.

'This isn't going to be easy, she appears to be tracing the perimeter. Only now she isn't wearing the cape and has that god awful hammer of hers hanging over her shoulder.' Shadow added.

'Just because you got your ass kicked by it, doesn't mean you have to get sour.' Knuckles smirked.

'You're one to talk!' Shadow shot back.

'Guys, shut up! This is no time for fooling around!' Sonic shouted.

'He's right, we need a plan to get her home with us.' Tails exclaimed.

'Well, there is something you could try.' Cosmo said and everyone turned to face her, coaxing her to continue.

'Is she alone?' Cosmo asked, directed to Rouge and Shadow.

'Well, yeah. So?' Shadow answered.

'Maybe we need to use her weakness against her for our benefit, instead of Eggman's.'

'What are you getting at, Cosmo?' Knuckles said, becoming impatient.

'Eggman believes her weakness is Sonic, right? And there is no denying that it's the truth. The only one that could possibly talk her out of this madness is him! We remain hidden but still close enough to jump into action if necessary and Sonic steps out to talk to her.'

'Tails I think you unloaded all your brains onto this pair?' Rouge smirked at the wide-eyed kitsune.

'It's perfect, let's do it!' Knuckles exclaimed as he thrust his fist into the air.

'Wait, wait. I don't want Cream and Cosmo in battle.' Tails spoke up.

'Even though I'm slightly offended by that, he's probably right. We haven't done field training.' Cosmo admitted.

'That's fine, we yell at you through your communicator's when we pick up something to advantage you.' Cream said.

'Great!' Cosmo and Knuckles exclaimed in sync.

'I'm not so sure about this.' Sonic mumbled, still loud enough to be heard.

'WHAT?!'

'She was pretty pissed at me last time I saw her! Who's to say she still isn't? Who's to say she will agree to come with me?' Sonic exclaimed.

'She's doing this to protect you, to protect all-'

'You don't know that for sure!' He cut Rouge off. Silence fell upon them all as they faced the cold, hard truth that they really did have no guarantee that their theory was real.

'It's worth a shot.' Cosmo said as she walked up and placed a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

He finally nodded before the team set out to meet Amy on the perimeter. They all walked cautiously and carefully towards the base before stopping to hide. Everyone hid behind bushes or trees, waiting for the moment to strike. Sonic hung back and waited for a signal to go out and see her. Rouge was up in a tree looking down over it all, she gave him the all clear and he stepped out into the entrance of the base…


	8. A Desperate Attempt

'How's it goin', Ames?' He said, casual as ever.

She whirled around to face the familiar voice. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. All she wanted to do was run into his arms and cry as she apologized to him. What scared her most was she knew exactly what would happen if she did just that.

'Sonic! What are you doing here?!' Amy exclaimed.

'Aw, what? You aren't happy to see me?' He said with a smile and she simply stared in shock at his stubbornness.

_'How the hell does he do that? Go from a headless chao to so calm the next?!' Knuckles whispered from behind a bush._

_'Shhh! You'll blow our cover! Although you make a good point…' _Shadow whispered back.  
><em><br>_'You need to leave, Sonic.' Amy said firmly.

'Look, Amy, I know you're upset with me but this is insane!' Sonic exclaimed.

'I said leave, Sonic.'

'I know you don't really want to do this, he's blackmailed you. Hasn't he?!' Sonic shouted, causing Amy to look up at him with hurt in her eyes. He knows…

'Where are the others?' She questioned.

'They're here.'

'Then you all need to leave.' She said loudly so they could all hear before turning back to Sonic. 'I'm just trying to protect you, now get out of here!' She yelled again and turned around to walk back inside, refusing to let him see her cry.

'No, not without you.' Sonic said more to himself before he ran up and turned Amy around to face him.

He grabbed her tightly by the arms and looked straight into her soul, scaring Amy half to death. What was he going to do to her? Before she was even able to answer her own question, she felt something on her lips, warm and moist. In a desperate attempt to bring her home, Sonic the Hedgehog kissed Amy Rose. When he realized she was kissing him back, he released his grip and wrapped his arm arms around her waist. Amy sub-consciously leaned into him more and wrapped her arms around his neck.

'Oh my, God.' Cosmo whispered.

'Holy shit.' Knuckles and Shadow said in sync.

'Atta girl.' Rouge smirked.


	9. What Just Happened?

After maybe not even a minute of kissing, Sonic remembered that all of their friends could still see them. He released his grip and stood back from her, waiting for some sort of response. Amy wrapped one arm around herself and felt her lips with the other hand as she looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears.

'Sonic, you have to leave. You all do. If you don't I'll have to-'

'Well, well, well. If it isn't my favourite blue brat?' A voice cut her off and they whirled around.

'Eggman!' Sonic exclaimed as he looked up to the grossly obese doctor in his tiny hovercraft. Oh, the irony.

'Would you do the honors? My _Empress_?' Eggman asked with a fake sweetness. Amy let a tear slide down her cheek before looking back into the eyes of her hero. She had no choice.

'Attack!' Amy cried as she pushed a button on a new wrist pad she was fashioning.

Before the gang could work out what was happening, out came hundreds upon hundreds of small Eggman robots. They headed straight towards Sonic, ready to fight. Shadow and Knuckles leapt out from behind the bushes and ran to his aid, causing Tails and Rouge to follow.  
>They all you their abilities to fight off as many as they could at a time but it was no use, the robots just kept coming. Sonic devoured through them, making his way towards Amy.<p>

'Attack, Amy!' Eggman shouted.

'Please, Eggman. Please don't make me do this!'

'I said… ATTACK!' He shouted again.  
><em><br>_Amy forced back the tears as she lunged forward to take on her blue hero. She certainly caught him off guard, if he was honest, he didn't think she would do it. She tackled him to the ground before summoning her hammer, as she was about to strike him he shifted their weight so he could pin her down.

'Why are you doing this?' Sonic exclaimed.

'You don't understand, I don't have a choice!' Amy cried as she pushed him off her and punched him in the face.

'Sonic! Help me!' Tails cried as he was being piled on by several robots.

'I'll help you…' Eggman snarled to himself as he pushed down hard on a massive yellow button.

As Sonic ripped off the robots from his brother and the last of them had been destroyed, the gang whirled around to see the same metallic beast that was in Bocoon's message. They all backed away, suddenly standing closer together as a group. Amy backed away on her own, tripping up and falling on her behind. The machine's canon appeared to be charging up, as if it was about to shoot.

'Here is a hand _leaving_!' Eggman exclaimed before breaking out into manic laughter.

'No! We had a deal! If you want an Empress then you need to stick to your end!' Amy exclaimed as she stood up and jumped up on top of the beast.

Eggman let out a huff as he eyed Amy off, letting her words seep in. The rest of the team looked on in confusion. So there really was a deal? What was it? What was making Amy do something so rebellious? Eggman finally let out a grunt when he realized she was right, he wanted an Empress for his empire, after all.

'Fine, but if they don't leave now-'

'I'll take care of it!' Amy cut him off as she jumped off the beast.

'Lucky this time, Hedgehog. _Very lucky_.' Eggman snorted as he and his creation retreated to inside his base.

After Eggman had gone, Cream and Cosmo came out from behind the bushes and stood beside the rest of the team. They both stared on at their pink friend, trying not to cry. Amy simply stared back at them as she heard her heart shatter into a million pieces.

'I guess that's how you all knew what was coming?' Amy questioned, referring to Cream and Cosmo.

'Tails trained them well.' Sonic replied.

'Looks like we trained you all _too_ well.' Shadow snickered causing Rouge to whack him.

Amy bowed her head in shame as everyone fell silent. Nothing really broke the silence, just the tension… when Cream ran up to her and hugged her around the waist. Everyone just looked up in, well, shock. It wasn't rare the sisterly duo would hug but in these circumstances it was almost risky. Cream let a few tears slide down her cheeks as she squeezed the air out of her big sister. Amy closed her eyes as she forced back the tears, too scared to hug her back incase Eggman was still watching.  
>Cream finally let go and walked back to stand by Cosmo. The gang began to peel off, one by one, and walk back towards the X-Tornado. No one even looking Amy in the eye let alone say anything to her. Eventually, there were only two left standing. Sonic and Amy. Face to face, unable to avoid everything that had just happened. Their first kiss and their first legitimate battle all in the space of ten minutes, if that.<p>

'Goodbye, Sonic the Hedgehog.' Amy said softly as she turned around.

'Amy, please let me-'

'Sonic,' She cut him off and turned her head just enough to see him, 'go.'

Sonic watched on as she walked through the entrance of the Eggbase. He didn't try and stop her this time. Not just because it was no use but because he couldn't force himself to do it again. He was shocked, angry, upset and all around confused. He was scared for his friend... scared for someone who may even be more. 


	10. But Will It Work?

It was well into the night before the team arrived home and settled themselves. Cream and Cosmo fell asleep on the big living room lounge and Tails covered them both with blankets. He couldn't help but notice the tear residue on both their cheeks, how sad they had been earlier. He tried wipe a little away and then left them be.

The boys had gathered downstairs in the garage, trying to figure out their next move. They knew now for sure that Amy was doing this to protect them, probably from that huge machine. They knew it must have been something mighty powerful for things to get this out of hand. They also knew that the only way to overpower the beast that was confiding Amy was with something more powerful than a chaos emerald. More powerful than all seven. Did such a thing exist? Unless, of course, they used-

'THE MASTER EMERALD!' Knuckles exclaimed as he shot out of his seat, causing the others to jump.

'What about it, Knux?' Tails said through a yawn.

'I can convince it to control the other emeralds! When it sees they are being used for evil, it will retract their powers until it's confident they are in good hands!'

'That's genius! How did we not think of this before?' Tails said as he shot up out of his seat.

'You can't be sure it's going to work though? Plus if it doesn't and things go in reverse, we are well and truly beyond screwed.' Shadow said as he lean back in his chair and close his eyes.

'That can't happen when Knuckles is on the job though? Right?' Tails questioned, gesturing to Knuckles.

'I'd beg to differ.' Sonic mocked.

'Oh, shut up. You know as well as anyone else that I am the Master Emerald's guardian and it trusts me.' Knuckles snapped and Sonic shrugged.

'How can you even be sure it is going to work? It's a hell of a risk!' Shadow spoke up.

Before they knew it, they were in a heated discussion about the theory of using the Master Emerald's powers to save Amy. Sonic had a headache coursing through every cell in his brain and he rubbed his temple as he walked out of the garage and upstairs into the living room.  
>He walked past Cream and Cosmo on the couch and smiled a little before he continued to walk out onto the balcony. He rested his elbows on the railing and looked out to the horizon where the moon shone just above it. He let out a huge, exasperated sigh as he slouched over the railing.<p>

'Shit, what am I going to do?' He mumbled to himself.

'Well, if that kiss didn't work, then I sure as hell don't know what will!' A voice came from behind him. He whirled around to see Rouge sitting up on the roof.

'I know you're a spy and all, Rouge, but you've gotta stop doing that!' Sonic exclaimed, unable to hide a slight giggle.

'Sorry, but I was here first.' She pointed out, causing them both to chuckle. Rouge then jumped down and walked up next to him, waiting for him to say something more.

'The things I'd give to get inside her stubborn head.' Sonic said.

'I know how your feeling but she knows what she's doing and for now we just have to trust her until we figure out a way to bring her home safely.' Rouge said firmly.

'I guess so. To be honest though, I thought that kiss would have worked.' Sonic said as he arched an eyebrow as he thought back at it.

'I still can't believe you did it.'

'What? Why? You calling me soft?!' Sonic protested.

'When it comes to this, yes.' Rouge admitted and Sonic bowed down from a fight he couldn't win.

'Did you mean it, Sonic?' Rouge asked him after a minute of silence fell over them.

'Mean what?'

'Don't play dumb. You know how Amy feels about you. Did you do that just to get her home or was there something else?'

Sonic opened his mouth to say something and then closed it again as he bowed his head, thinking about his response. He honestly wasn't completely sure he trusted Rouge with the truth, but then again he knew how angry she would be if he told the lie. Maybe it was time to stop being 'soft' and man up?

'Let's just say the opportunity was there, I saw it, and I wasn't going to let it slide.' Sonic blushed.

'I knew it.' Rouge smirked as she looked over the balcony.

'If you tell anyone, I swear I'll-'

'You won't do shit. But no, I won't tell anyone.' Rouge cut him off.

'Thank you.'

'Just as long as you tell Amy the whole truth when she gets home.' Rouge added.

'I don't have a choice anymore so there isn't really any point avoiding it.' Sonic said.

'I'm glad you see it my way.' Rouge said and they both began to laugh.

'I want her home, now.' Sonic admitted.

'I know you're worried about her, I am too. We all are! We'll get her home sooner than you think. I'm not worried.' Rouge shrugged.

'You're awful sure of yourself… about everything, come to think of it?' Sonic said as he narrowed his eyes at her.

'Well, yeah? I'm pretty awesome? Isn't that why Knuckles is so interested in me?' Rouge said as if she was confused about Sonic's statement.

'Yeah, that's it.' Sonic said sarcastically before they began to laugh.


	11. I Can't Do It Anymore

That very night, at Eggman's base, Amy stood by Eggman who was sitting at his large desk in the centre of the base. He was watching all of the hologram TV screens that showed everything happening in the base at that very moment. He let out a chuckle here and there when he saw something he was pleased with happening to the new beast, which sickened Amy to her very core. She walked down the few grand stairs to the side of them to the lower level of the room where Decoe and Bocoe were working away. She began to pace, her cape dragging behind her and her tiara sparkling in the light of the room. How distressed and sad she looked.

'Amy, my dear. What troubles you?' Eggman questioned when he noticed her mood.

'What doesn't trouble me?' She snapped.

'Oh, come on. You're not still hung up on today? Especially that weak kiss that blue pest gave you.' Eggman said as he rolled his eyes and began typing. Amy's eyes widened when she heard this.

'Y-You saw that?' She stuttered.

'Of course I did. How stupid do you think I am? I wasn't worried though. As surprised as I was at the length Sonic was willing to go to get you home, I knew you wouldn't give in.' He smirked.

'Oh? Is that so?' She protested as she folded her arms, earning a look from the doctor.

'Yes, it is.'

They stared at each other a few seconds longer before Eggman looked away and back towards the TV screens. Amy could feel her anger and sadness bubbling and boiling in her blood, as if it was rising to the surface and about to explode. She paced more, trying to calm herself down, listening to Eggman and his two sidebots go on about defeating her hero. She kept it together for quite some time, until things went quiet and she was able to re-think the day. That kiss…

'NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! YOU WON'T AND NOR WILL I! RELEASE ME. NOW!' Amy screeched as she tore off the cape and threw it away.

'I beg your pardon, Miss Rose?' Eggman said normally in a fake surprise.

'You heard me! I can't do this anymore!' Amy repeated as she took the tiara off her head and threw it on the ground.

'Keep in mind, Amy, I can and will unleash my creation on the planet. Destroying _everything_ and _everyone_ you love if you leave, as promised.' Eggman reminded her.

'You won't. Sonic will stop you, he always does!' Amy exclaimed as her eyes began to well with tears. She honestly didn't know what she was doing, she was so scared.

'Alright then, Miss Rose. I'm saddened that I will no longer have an Empress, but if this is what you wish.' Eggman said as he gestured towards to double doors that made the entrance to the base, they began to open after Decoe keyed in a few commands.

Amy nodded to him and then turned to Decoe and Bocoe, merely acknowledging their existence. She began to walk cautiously towards the doors, checking over her shoulder a few times to be sure. Everything was fine, thank God. Only a few steps from freedom now, then she would run all the way home into his arms.  
><strong><em>*CLANG*<em>**  
>A huge steel cage trapped Amy where she stood.<p>

'Hey! What's the big idea?!' Amy screeched.

'Pfft, you were kidding yourself if you thought it would be that easy.' Eggman chuckled. 'You will stay here, you will be my Empress and Sonic will never get his grubby hands on you again.'

'_No… Sonic.' _

The next morning, after everyone had finally woken up and eaten, they gathered outside for some well-needed fresh air. The boys insisted on going back down to the garage to work but of course, Cream persuaded everyone to come outside. As devastated as they all were about Amy, just getting a little bit of sun did make them feel a little better, even Sonic. They sat around for a short while before that familiar, childish giggle returned.

'Ugh, it's back.' Shadow huffed as they all watched Bocoon head towards them.

'Well, hey there everyone!' Bocoon exclaimed as he landed in the middle of them all.

'What do you want this time?' Cosmo asked firmly.

'Yet another welcome greeting from the Sonic team.' He said sarcastically before pulling out a TV of his shoulder bag. 'Just another message.'

'Oh, hell no! I'm not taking this again!' Knuckles exclaimed as he ducked for cover.

'Hide all you like but I need to take this message back with me. Which means you only get to see it once, so you better pay real close attention!' Bocoon exclaimed as he pressed the power button on the TV.

That hideous, evil, obese face appeared on the screen again…  
><em>Greetings again, peasants! Doctor Eggman here, coming to you from the base of the Eggman Empire! Unfortunately my Empress, Miss Amy Rose, has decided she doesn't want to be my Empress anymore! Such a pity, so that means that you are all no longer protected. She was awful sure you could take my Chaos-creation on, especially with her help. She assumed that once she bowed down, I'd set her free.<br>_The screen then switched to Amy, trapped in the huge, steel cage. She appeared a little battered and bruised, she must have put up a fight to get out.  
><em>Boy, was she wrong! If you make any attempt to save her, I can guarantee you'll pay dearly! If you do so, I hope you're all prepared to fight off my beast. OH HOHOHO! I'm just kidding, I hope you're all prepared to be obliterated! You can thank Miss Rose for that. Oh, and before I forget, Sonic. Would you really call that a kiss? No wonder the girl didn't go with you! OH HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!<br>B-Bye! _

'Well, that's all for now. See ya!' Bocoon exclaimed as he put the message back in his bag and flew away in a hurry.

Usually someone would feed him some form of abuse to deliver back to Eggman, but this time they were all just too shocked. Amy was so scared there, that she actually gave it up. She believed in her true team so much, but was it too much?  
>Sonic thought about Eggman's last words, the snide comment about the kiss. It was making his blood boil. He couldn't have been gladder that Amy had finally stayed true to herself, but he was scared for her all the same. Everyone else felt it too, but what would they do? How would they free Amy and destroy the new machine?<p>

'We have to leave, now.' Sonic said as he walked towards the garage.

'No shit, but have you got any bright ideas that won't get us killed?' Knuckles snickered.

'The Master Emerald.' Sonic said as he continued to walk, causing everyone to follow.

'But Sonic, I can't take the Master Emerald in the Tornado.' Tails pointed out.

'We can take the Blue Typhoon, can't we?' Cream suggested.

'Exactly right, Cream.' Sonic smiled as he walked straight towards the huge ship.

'You sure this will work, Faker?' Shadow questioned.

'Got a better idea?' Rouge jumped in and Shadow simply shrugged.

'Look I really don't know. Surely there is some other way we can-'

'Oh please, Knuckie? Do it for me if not Amy?' Rouge cut him off as she began to bat her eyes at him.

'Well… uh. I-I guess so. Oh, alright. Shadow, you'll have to help me get it here.' Knuckles caved as he blushed furiously.

'No problem, you softie.' Shadow mumbled as the two ran towards Angel Island.

'Well played.' Sonic commended Rouge.

'It's a gift.' She boasted, causing Cream and Cosmo to giggle a little.


	12. It's Now or Never

While Knuckles and Shadow were gone getting the emerald, Cosmo and Cream helped Tails make last minute adjustments and check-ups to the Typhoon. It had been some time since they had used the Blue Typhoon for anything serious, probably not since they were out in space.  
>By the time Shadow and Knuckles had arrived back with the Master Emerald, the Typhoon was ready to go. Tails allowed his two sidekicks to assist him in installing it and within the hour they were ready to go. After Tails had finished analyzing everything, he told Sonic that he couldn't be 100% sure it would overpower Eggman's Chaos-Creation, but it had a fighting chance.<p>

'Are we ready?' Cream asked glee fully as she sat in her usual seat of the Typhoon.

'Let's go!' Everyone exclaimed.

Tails gracefully brought the Typhoon into the air and off they went. The Typhoon was sufficiently larger than the Tornado, allowing everyone to travel on board. Knuckles remained in the control room with The Master Emerald, trying to prepare it for the battle ahead, while everyone else remained in the base or headquarters of the ship. Usually Sonic and Amy would be the co-pilots for Tails, but this time rouge had to take over for Amy. Sonic couldn't deny it not feeling the same, as much as he liked Rouge and all.

'Don't worry, Ames, I'm coming for you.' Sonic said out loud to himself.

After Tails had tracked down the base again, he put the ship into stealth mode, allowing the ship to be so quiet you could hear a pin drop. He hovered above Eggman's base and allowed Sonic, Shadow and Rouge to drop to the ground. Cream and Cosmo geared up in some smaller ships, charged with the Master Emerald's power, ready to attack as soon as Eggman put up a fight. Tails and Knuckles stayed on board to keep the ship steady and to control the Master Emerald. The more the plan unraveled, the more confident they all felt it would work. Honestly, they have the emerald that is more powerful than anything else, what could possibly go wrong?

'Gah! That pesky Sonic is back!' Eggman exclaimed as he saw the three drop to the ground through his cameras.

'Don't worry, Doctor, they can't over power your machine.' Decoe assured him.

'That is right, it is far too grand!' Bocoe added.

'He has a plan, I'm sure of it. He won't give up!' Amy shouted from her cage in the corner of the room.

'As much as I hate to admit it, the brat is right. Sonic is a pain but he isn't that stupid. I'm sure he has something up his sleeve.' Eggman said as he stroked his moustache.

'What should we do, Doctor?' Bocoe questioned, almost in a panic.

Eggman continued to stroke his moustache as he thought about Bocoe's question. He hummed to himself as he thought about a plan, a plan brewing in his ingenious, evil mind. When he had it, his eyebrows rised, showing his eyes were widening behind his dark glasses. An evil smile grew across his face as he turned his head to face Amy. Amy grew increasingly nervous as she watched him look at her, knowing she would be a part of his plan.

'Sonic will fight me, no hesitation. Even if he doesn't have a chance, he'll give it a shot.' Eggman thought allowed.

'What are you saying, Doctor Eggman?' Decoe asked.

'Maybe Sonic needs a new opponent. Someone a little more difficult for him to take on.' Eggman chuckled as he continued to stare at Amy.

'Oh no…' She whispered.

Sonic, Shadow and Rouge hid behind a few trees, watching the entrance to the base. Nothing. Tails and Knuckles watched on from the Typhoon. Nothing. Cream and Cosmo watched on from their separate ships. Nothing. Where was he? Where was Amy? This all seemed too easy.

'What do you make of it?' Rouge asked.

'He knows we're here. He's waiting for us to make the first move.' Shadow replied.

'What do you think, Tails?' Sonic asked through his wrist communicator.

'Nothing is going to happen until we do something. I say Rouge goes forth and cracks the code to the entrance, when you're in you go and find Amy. Call us again if you need back-up.' He replied.

'Copy. Alright, Rouge, you're up.' Sonic said as he nodded to Rouge.

Rouge nodded back before flying over a few bushes and landing gracefully back on the ground. She walked toward the door, where a small keypad was attached to the side. She inspected it for no more than thirty seconds before she realized what the code was. She cautiously keyed in a few digits and letters before it lit up green and the doors began to open.  
>Still nothing. Suspicious…<br>Rouge turned around and gestured for Sonic and Shadow to come out and follow her.

'Nice work.' Sonic gave her the thumbs up.

'Not really, that's child's play for this one.' Shadow jumped in.

'I'm going to take that as a compliment.' Rouge smirked.

Sonic and Shadow rolled their eyes before the three walked through the doors to the base. They walked a few steps in before they could see a small, petite figure in the distance. A small, petite, _pink _figure, sitting gracefully on a small seat in the middle of the next room, her back facing them.

'AMY!' Sonic shouted before he prepared to bolt towards her.

'No, Sonic!' Shadow shouted as he grabbed the blue hedgehog's arm.

'Shadow! What are you doing?!' Sonic exclaimed, trying to free himself.

'Don't you think that's awful suspicious, Sonic?' Rouge asked him. 'Call out to her again, see if she answers.'

'Amy? Amy, answer me!' Sonic yelled.

It appeared as though she heard him this time. Her head rose, still facing away from them. Sonic took a few steps towards where she was sitting, calling her name again. She turned her head, so she was only just looking over her shoulder at them. Her shoulder and entire side of her face looked bruised and swollen.

'Sonic?' She whispered.

'Amy! I'm here.' Sonic said with a smile as he was about to run towards her.

'Stop.' She said calmly as she put a hand up, forcing him to stop. It was as though she had released some power from her hand that pushed him away from her.

'Please, Amy. We are here to take you home!' Rouge exclaimed.

'You have to go. Leave me, save yourselves. I'm begging you.' Amy cried.

'Never.' Sonic said, almost in anger as he got away from Shadow and Rouge and ran towards the pink hedgehog.

She stood up, turned around and pushed him away, causing him to fall backwards and land on his behind. Amy let more tears slide down her cheek before she bowed her head in shame. Suddenly, the Chaos-Creation 6000 appeared as if from thin air behind Amy. Now Sonic and the others understood, a luminous pink ray of light was connecting Amy to the beast, controlling her every move.

'Tails? You may want to prepare yourself.' Rouge said over her own communicator.

'What are you talking about? Did you find Amy?' Tails asked.

'Well, yeah.' Rouge admitted.

Suddenly Amy raised her arms and threw them forward, causing Sonic, Rouge and Shadow to be thrown all the way out the front door of the base. The metallic beast forced Amy to walk forward and follow them outside. They got to their feet and watched on as Amy and the machine came out of the front entrance. Cream and Cosmo flew down and hovered by Sonic and Shadow's sides.

'OH HOHOHO! Hello there!' Eggman exclaimed as he appeared behind the beast in his small hovercraft and flew down to hover beside Amy.

'Eggman, you've gone too far this time! Let Amy go!' Sonic exclaimed.

'Oh, I really don't think so. You certainly won't be getting her back anytime soon!'

'Wanna bet?' Sonic said with a cocky grin, making Amy nervous.

Eggman grew angry at Sonic's confidence. He looked at Amy who was standing with weak posture, the machine was draining her energy. He commanded the machine to make her walk forward, as weak as she was, she could still intimidate her loved ones.

'Come on, Ames. Snap out of it!' Sonic exclaimed.

'I… can't.' She whispered.

'Knuckles! I think we might need some help around about now!' Cosmo exclaimed over her ship's communicator.

'Got it, Cosmo!' Knuckles replied to her before raising his arms up towards the emerald. 'Oh, Master Emerald, hear our plea! Lend us your mighty power for good! We wish to overcome the powers of evil! Evil is using your follower's power! Save the chaos emeralds, help us set them free!'

The large, green emerald began to glow uncontrollably before it shot out rays of light all around the Typhoon. It sent its power to Cream and Cosmo's ships and to Sonic and Shadow, turning them super. Eggman began to sweat and panic as he watched his enemies become more and more powerful.

'How?!' He exclaimed.

'The Master Emerald. It will overcome all the other emeralds.' Amy said more to herself than anyone else.

'Not if I can help it!' Eggman shouted before he smacked his hand down on a large red button.

Amy let out a painful screech before the luminous, pink ray lifted her up into the air. She called out for her hero to help her but it was no use. Electrical currents were circuiting through her at an alarming rate before suddenly they stopped. Mid-air, Amy's body went limp.

'Amy?!' Cream and Cosmo exclaimed in sync.

Amy reacted to their call and raised her head. She opened her eyes and stared deep into their souls. These were not Amy's eyes however, they were dark and evil. Completely black except for fluorescent red pupils. Tails and Knuckles watched on from above in complete horror, knowing what Eggman was doing to her.

'Sonic! Eggman is using the emeralds at their full capacity! You have to destroy the machine!' Tails exclaimed.

'But be careful, if you hit Amy even in the slightest she will…' Knuckles trailed off, sending pain through the rest of the gang's stomachs.

'We're on it!' Sonic exclaimed confidently before he leapt towards the machine.

Before Sonic could even get close to the machine, Amy shot forward and let out a screech as she pinned him down to the ground. Sonic held her hands in the attempt to keep her away from him, but she fought hard to get her hands around his neck.

'OH HOHOHOHO! This machine is even better when it's set to mind control!' Eggman cackled.

'Well, that explains a lot.' Tails said to himself.

'Sonic! It's not Amy doing it, it's Eggman!' Knuckles exclaimed over his communicator.

'I've figured that much out, Knux! Rouge and Shadow! Help me distract Amy! Cosmo and Cream! You need to destroy the machine!' Sonic exclaimed, still trying to fend Amy off.

Shadow and Rouge ran towards their infected friend, ripping her away from the blue hedgehog. This made her angry, really angry. She let out a scream before taking on Rouge in a battle, which Rouge was easily able to defend. Rouge was able to force herself to throw in a few punches or kicks here and there, distracting Amy long enough for the other two to join in and finish it.  
>Rouge tackled Amy to the ground by her waist and barely held her down. She almost escaped until Shadow stepped in and trod on her arms. It appeared as though the possessed Amy feared the power of Super Shadow.<p>

'Sonic! You have to knock her out!' Rouge exclaimed as she held Amy down.

'No way! I'm not going to hit her!'

'For Christ's sake, Faker! We need to knock her out so we can destroy that machine easily!' Shadow exclaimed.

Cream and Cosmo still tried to shoot at the metallic beast but it wasn't working. Even with the power of the Master Emerald their guns were of no use. One of Cream's guns broke down, leaving Cosmo to battle it nearly alone.

'Guys! You have to help us, now!' Cream shouted, holding back her fearful tears.

'I can't hurt her, Shadow!' Sonic repeated.

'Fine then, I will!' Shadow exclaimed over all the noise.

'What?!' Eggman exclaimed when he heard this.

Eggman tried to fly forward and stop the hedgehog from stopping Amy but he was too slow. Cream and Cosmo flew in and kept him away. They aimed their guns towards him, sending him into a state of panic, suddenly realizing they all had him surrounded. They were going to defeat him again.

'Decoe, Bocoe! Retreat!' Eggman exclaimed before flying away, his two sidebots running after him.

Shadow took in a deep breath before closing his eyes and using his super powers to knock Amy hard enough to put her lights out. The pink ray behind her suddenly faded away, making her body go limp. Sonic felt as though his heart had just been torn in two, watching her be so brutally hurt. Rouge flew up into the machine which now began to malfunction and stole away every last chaos emerald.

'We have to go, now! It's going to explode!' Rouge exclaimed.

'I swear to God, Shadow, if you've hurt her-'

'I did what I had to do!' He shot back.

Sonic picked an unconscious Amy up bridal style and jumped onto the wing of Cream's plane. Shadow and Rouge jumped onto the wings of Cosmo's plane before they quickly got themselves back up to the Blue Typhoon. Seconds later, the Chaos-Creation 6000 exploded into millions of pieces, taking Eggman's base with it. Two birds, one stone really.  
>The team watched on as flaming debris floated and fell back down to the ground before they finally took off and headed back towards home. They finally had Amy rose back with them, safe.<p> 


	13. Let's Go Home

That night, after the gang returned home, Knuckles and Shadow returned the Master Emerald to Angel Island. Knuckles thanked it for allowing them to use its powers and how they would be forever grateful before they left. By the time the two returned back to Sonic and Tails' home, Tails had just finished putting away the Blue Typhoon, thanks to a little help from Cream and Cosmo.  
>Shadow noticed Tails and Cosmo holding hands and Cosmo giving him a small peck on the cheek before they followed Cream and Knuckles upstairs. He was almost certain he was going to throw up, but instead he just rolled his eyes and ignored it. Proud of himself that he avoided ruining their moment.<p>

They all made their way upstairs to find Sonic and Rouge sitting by the large living room couch where Amy's bruised body lay. Rouge turned around to face them when she heard them walk in, smiling at Knuckles for the first time in a long time. She saw his face as he looked down on his unconscious sisterly-figure, he looked so scared. She stood up and walked towards him, simply wrapping an arm around his waist before continuing to watch on over Sonic and Amy. Knuckles began to blush furiously, but couldn't deny he liked this feeling. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her close for comfort, making her smile. Again, Shadow rolled his eyes at everyone's public displays of affection.

'How is she, pal?' Tails asked, breaking the silence.

'Better than she was a few hours ago I suppose.' Sonic answered as he played with Amy's fingers.

'Has she woken up yet?' Cream asked.

'No, not yet. But she will, she is just exhausted and injured. It's just going to take a little time is all.' Rouge said as she tried to lift everyone's spirits.

The room fell silent as they watched Sonic caressing Amy's hands. Rouge was the only one that really knew how Sonic felt about Amy, but it was around now that everyone else was catching on. The ivory bat led everyone down stairs in order to give Sonic some privacy with Amy.

'You're so brave, Amy Rose.' Sonic began to speak out loud. 'I never doubted you, ya know. I was just worried about you. The thought of you getting hurt scared me and if I wasn't there to protect you or save you I just… I don't know what I'd do if I lost you. I'm so sorry, Ames. For all of this.'

Sonic took Amy's hand into both of his and brought them up to his face as he bowed his head and closed his eyes. He squeezed her hand tight, as if he was begging for her to wake up at that very moment, little did he know it was working… Amy's eyes began to flutter before finally opening. She took in a few deep breaths and worked out where she was before turning her head to see her hero right by her side.

'Please wake up, Ames. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. Please come back to me, I need you.' Sonic said.

'You can't always be the hero, Sonic.' Amy said with a small smile.

Sonic's head shot up, his eyes wide open and stared at Amy's face. She let out as much of a giggle as she could at his shocked expression before using her free hand to stroke his face.

'A-Amy? You're awake!' Sonic whispered in shock.

'Yes, yes I am.' Amy smiled.

'Thank God you're back.' Sonic chuckled.

'I don't deserve to be. I betrayed you, Sonic. I betrayed all of you, but I swear I did it to protect you. I was scared and I didn't-'

'Hey, hey, hey.' Sonic cut her off and placed a finger over her lips. 'I know what you did. It's the bravest thing I've ever come across! It's all over now. Let's just focus on getting you better, shall we?'

'Sounds good.' Amy smiled as she sat up.

'How do you feel?' He asked.

'Sore. Like I've been hit by a truck, but I'm guessing that's all these bruises. I can't believe I had to fight you all.' She sighed.

'It's never going to happen again, I can guarantee that.' Sonic assured her.

'I agree!' Amy replied.

'I missed you, Ames.' Sonic blushed, causing Amy to giggle.

'I missed you too, Sonic.' Amy replied, staring deep into her hero's eyes.

Before she knew it, he was leaning forward. Closer and closer towards her before he couldn't get any closer. For the second time, Sonic kissed Amy. This time, it was because he could and because he wanted to. It was gentle and sweet and full of love and passion. They could feel each other smile within the kiss as they wrapped their arms around each other. After a few seconds they broke away for air and rested their foreheads against each other's.

'I liked that one better.' Amy admitted.

'Better than what?'

'Our first kiss.' Amy giggled and Sonic just chuckled.

'Give me a chance, you haven't seen the best yet.' He winked at her before leaning in again.

'Ok, seriously though. What is with all the PDA around here?!' Shadow exclaimed in a whisper, causing Amy and Sonic to jump.

'Shhhh! Shadow you're going to blow our cover!' Rouge whispered as she smacked him upside the head.

'Cover's already been blown, guys.' Sonic said through a laugh, causing Amy to blush.

'Dammit!' Knuckles exclaimed as they all came into the room.

'Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.' Amy shook her head at the red echidna.

'Oh, pipe down, Pinky. How you feeling anyway?' Knuckles asked as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

'Much better. How are all you guys?' She asked as she looked around the room at all her friends.

'Much better now you're awake and back home!' Cosmo exclaimed.

'Absolutely! We missed you!' Cream added.

The gang got to talking and Amy continuously apologized for everything that had happened, to which everyone brushed off. They knew it wasn't her fault and they knew she was doing it out of love, she couldn't help but feel guilty though. As the moon rose, Cream and Cosmo prepared dinner for everyone, with a little help from their newest sidekick… Tails. They all sat out on the balcony and ate dinner as they laughed and talked together in the cool, crisp breeze under the moonlight.

'Can someone answer my question now?' Shadow demanded.

'What question, Shad?' Sonic asked as he swallowed a mouthful of spaghetti.

'What's with all the PDA?! First Tails and Cosmo-'

'You saw that?' Tails cut him off as he and Cosmo blushed furiously.

'Tails! Nice work, bro!' Sonic said as he gave him a thumbs up, causing Amy and Cosmo to face palm.

'ANYWAY… Then Rouge and Knuckles getting all cuddly and shit-'

'Jealous much?' Knuckles cut him off and winked as he pulled Rouge into him.

'Get over yourselves. Then finally you've got Sonic and Amy who have finally admitted their true feeling for each other and then get all mushy in front of us. Has all that training gone down the drain?!' Shadow exclaimed.

'In their defense, we all knew how Amy felt a long time ago.' Rouge smirked and Amy threw a piece of bread at her.

'Feeling a little left out there, Shadow?' Tails giggled.

'Don't make me laugh.' Shadow rolled his eyes.

'Awww, I think poor Shadow is feeling left out.' Amy said, pouting her lips.

'I think you might be right, Amy.' Cosmo added.

'I think we've got something for you that you'll never forget.' Rouge said, arching an eyebrow.

The three girls sauntered towards the ebony hedgehog, causing him to panic as he quickly became surrounded. The other boys began to laugh at his misfortunate, ready to sit back and enjoy the show. The girls pinned him down to a seat and waited for him to stop struggling out of the grasp. Then, little Cream walked up and stood in front of him with her usual, cheerful grin.

'What's the big idea?!' Shadow exclaimed.

'Don't worry, Mr. Shadow. You shouldn't feel left out. You'll always be a hero to me!' Cream exclaimed before she ran up and embraced him in a tight hug.

She backed away just enough so she could plant a small kiss on his nose. Nothing romantic, just sweet and friendly. Shadow couldn't help but plaster an expression of confusion and flattery all of his muzzle. He blushed as he tried to analyze the situation, causing everyone to bite their lips to stop themselves from laughing.

'Uh, thanks… Cream.' Shadow said politely.

'Hey! That's the first time you've ever said my name!' Cream exclaimed with glee, referring to all the times he'd call her pipsqueak or shorty. She was thrilled!


	14. Short, Sweet and Passionate

It would have been somewhere around 10pm before everyone was settled in around the lounge room, watching movies and dozing off to sleep. Believe it or not, the first out to it were Shadow and Cream. Shadow suddenly felt protective of the young rabbit, like he had a new sisterly figure. Nothing that would compare to Maria, but it was like she was some sort of equivalent.  
>Of course, Tails and Knuckles dozed off half way through a girly chick-flick, allowing Cosmo and Rouge to cuddle up and drift off to sleep in their arms. Not the most romantic way to go about it, they could've at least stuck out the movie, but it certainly could've gone worse!<br>Then there was Sonic and Amy, who were both fighting to keep their eyes open just to be together. Sonic lay on his back with Amy curled up, half on top of him. They caressed each other's hands and stared into each other's eyes as they laughed and joked quietly. It couldn't have been more clichéd, nonetheless, they enjoyed themselves. Amy finally rested her head on her hero's chest and closed her eyes, still squeezing his hands tight.

'Hey, Ames?' Sonic said.

'Yeah?'

'I love you… ya know.' Sonic stuttered a little, nervous as ever.

'Really?' Amy asked as her head shot up and looked him in the eyes.

'Yeah, I do.'

'I love you, too.' She smiled before leaning in to kiss him.

She cupped his face as she kissed him, slowly moving her hands around the back of his head and through his quills. Sonic's heart was racing faster than his feet could ever go. Sonic moved his hands up and down Amy's back and thighs, applying a little pressure each time he got nervous. Amy broke away, for the air they both needed, kissed him on the cheek once more before bidding her hero goodnight. She curled back up onto his chest and quickly dozed off to sleep, she was exhausted. Then again, they all were.  
>Sonic watched her sleep for a few minutes more before looking up at the ceiling, recapping the past few days. What a wild ride… He couldn't have been more happy, excited and relived to have Amy Rose home. How he missed her, how he feared for her. How he swore to never let her in harm's way again.<p>

He was a lucky hedgehog, he had it all. Well, the whole team were lucky really. They all had everything.


End file.
